The Island Queen Public House

The Island Queen Public House is a public house with accommodation above, dating from 1851. It has been altered internally around 1889 and 1897. The front facade is constructed of stock brick with a rendered sill band, a cornice to the front and right-hand side, and a rendered ground-floor side wall. The roof is not visible. The building has a rectangular plan with an entrance on the right-hand side. The public house frontage features dark timber and glass, with curved glass flanks, a formerly central door (now blocked), and a side door. Narrow mullions between the glass elements are treated as columns, with small toplights under a frieze that has a dentilled cornice. Heavy panels form a timber dado. The composition is framed by pilasters with Corinthian capitals, and includes a set-back door with half-glazing to the side. The upper floors are three windows wide, with the first floor featuring margin light glazing and a central pediment. All windows have flat projecting lintels supported on console brackets. Second-floor windows are sash windows with projecting lintels and console brackets. Rear windows are sash windows with gauged brick heads, with those to the first floor having margin lights. A projecting rear ablution block was added by 1897.

The pub’s interior from the late 19th century remains well-preserved. Entrance is now from the right-hand side. There is an original central island bar with a small bar back and optic stand, the cradle of which is later. The interior also features cast-iron columns with Corinthian capitals and a lincrusta ceiling. A collection of mirrors dating from around 1900 is present in the back bar, which retains a late 19th-century fireplace with a round-arched grate. At the entrance, some original partitioning with renewed glass remains. A fragment of the original frieze moulding survives behind an inserted food counter, and dado panelling is present around the principal bar space. A pool room to the rear has early 20th-century panelling. Side stairs with late 19th-century dado panelling lead to the upper floors, which have not been inspected. Below the stairs is a series of cellars, originally used as a kitchen and pot room, that extend under the roadway.

The building is included on the list as a good surviving example of a mid-19th century public house, contributing handsomely to a street containing many listed terraces. Its late 19th-century front, central bar, and other features are now increasingly rare.